Thunder of Remnant
by Valmariel
Summary: He is the roar of the grey sky, the once respected Commander of the Huntsmen's Alliance and feared Hunter of Remnant. Dishonored by the corrupted, he let himself disappear, forgotten, simply nonexistent. A silent promise to a silver-eyed maiden pulls him back to Beacon decades later. In here, an unfinished legend of Thunder God will continue.
1. Ephemera

"Ozpin, defend the north entrance!" I shouted. The young recruit saluted and went there.

"Qrow and Winter, follow me!" Another group of youths literally sprinted to my side. They were a mage and a swordsman, even younger than Ozpin. Even though it was only 5 years after I graduated from Beacon, I managed to become Commander of the Huntsmen's Alliance. The youths might follow my step, if they are lucky enough to be alive after today.

Those monsters called Grimm had completely kept me and two dozens of Hunters and Huntresses underwhelmed. We were stationed at a small residential district near the border of Vale, to evacuate as many civilians as possible in the surrounding area from an invasion of the Grimm. They completely outnumbered ours; luckily the mage I mentioned earlier was a talented one: Winter Schnee from the famous Schnee family. If not for her prowess of crowd-controlling, we would be already KIA hours ago. The swordfighter called Qrow is not half bad too. He is the only one who could match my ability – beside his team leader Summer Rose, his sister Raven, and the fighter Taiyang, and that was not an easy feat for fresh graduates.

"To be frank; I thought we were screwed, Commander." Qrow remarked bashfully behind me while we were escorting the civilians to the VTOL. "I'm quite amazed how we are able to hold them at bay for 3 hours straight."

"It's because he is a remarkable leader, Qrow." Winter spoke with a firm tone. "Being a commander in age of twenty five is the proof of his ability as a first-class combat tactician."

"I don't know you're such a fangirl." He teased.

"What did you just say?!" She quickly turned at him and scowled.

"Hey, come on guys." I stopped and turned around smiling. "I don't want to be the cause of your lover quarrel."

"Me, fallen for this high-and-almighty Ice Queen? I'd rather kiss an Ursa." Qrow shook his head while Winter pouted. I laughed inside because I knew; deep beneath their rivalry they are actually enjoyed being together, at least to fight each other.

"How many left?" I shouted once we and the rest of civilian we escorted reached the VTOL to the Huntress responsible for rescuing the residence. I think her name was Glynda.

"I believe we have rescued 95% of the population, Summer and Raven are currently scouting for any remaining people." Glynda saluted.

"Understood, please take care of these people and come with them to the city."

"Excuse me, Sir?" Glynda clearly was confused of what I was saying.

"I said go home. You have done enough." I repeated myself.

"But sir, I can still fight!"

"That's why I want you to leave now. I want to ensure every Huntsmen and Huntswomen to be able to fight in the future, not dying in this infested hellhole." I explained and gently touched her shoulder. "By reducing the number of people with strong Aura we can reduce the chance of Grimm's backup detecting our presence. The rest of us can scramble once the civilians were all evacuated."

"…Understood, please be careful, Commander." She hesitantly nodded.

"Don't worry too much." Qrow grinned and shouldered his eccentric sword. "We are bad-asses."

"Show off." Winter rolled her eyes.

The VTOL finally lifted off after all the residences and Glynda were aboard. I asked Qrow to help Ozpin handling waves of Grimm and Winter to take charge in giving orders while I returned to the temporary base. I gathered the reports of the casualties, which fortunately, nobody was KIA. There are a number of injured operatives however, but nothing fatal.

" _Raven to Central, over._ " The wireless radio device on my ear suddenly spoke.

"This is Central. Commander's speaking, over." I responded to the call.

" _Sir, we found the remaining civilians, roughly fifty of them. One is fatally wounded and immobilized. We are currently 5 blocks south from Central LZ but we are surrounded. We need backup, over._ "

"Copy, all Huntsmen are currently occupied; I will personally provide backup, over and out."

" _Sir, are you sure?_ " A different set of voice came in, it was from Summer. But I did not hear it. I already grabbed my silver-blue spear, Rhongomyniad, from its sheath and rushed to the south.

Four blocks later I stopped running. I saw a Goliath slowly walked away. _Easy target_ , I whispered to myself. Rhongomyniad in my hand transformed into a great bow. I pulled the string and aimed. I did not need arrows, because after I set my target, my Aura materializes an arrow made of thunderbolt. It is my Semblance. I can materialize my Aura into elemental energy, which is quite handy because I do not have to carry ammunitions. The only cons is the more I release my Aura, the more fatigued I am. But a few will not hurt. I released the string and the bolt flew through the Goliath's head in a millisecond. It was dead right there and dematerialized immediately after.

I continued this approach until I reach the rendezvous block, silently sniping monsters from safe distance to avoid attention. However, the closer I was to the block, more Grimm kept showing up. They followed the source of fear and pain from the people. There was one building in particular where a large amount of them circled it – I am sure it was the place which Raven meant. It was weird and out of place to be honest, because it was the largest building in the area and the only non-residential one.

"This is Commander to Raven and Summer. Are you currently stationed at the Chiron building, over?" I activated my radio device.

" _Yes, we are at the lobby right now, over._ " Raven answered. I can faintly see her figure in red waving her hands to my direction from a long distance. Summer with her white hoodie cloak was tending to the wounded. They were actually as skilled as Qrow and Winter, but facing dozens of Grimm while they were only two and fifty innocent people to protect is an impossible feat even for me.

"Copy that. I need you too…"

" _HQ to Commander, report in Commander._ " Suddenly a direct communication from the headquarters interrupted us.

"Hold on, Raven." I spoke to her then responded to HQ. "This is Commander, over."

" _You have an urgent order from General. Abandon the search and return, over._ "

"Negative. We have roughly fifty civilians in captive, one of them in need of medical attention. Send in an evacuation VTOL immediately, over."

" _No can do, Commander. We will send VTOL to the Central LZ for the Huntsmen extraction. Repeat, abort the mission, over._ "

"What the hell are you talking about?! We are supposed to save them!" I snapped. I cannot understand why the HQ decided to cease the rescue.

" _Do what you are told to do, soldier._ " A different familiar voice spoke through the earpiece. This must be General.

"But…!"

" _No question. You are my subordinate, and you will follow my orders._ "

I kept my silent. Not because I chose to obey, but because I will not listen to an arrogant leader.

" _Good. Order your men to evacuate, over and out._ " The communication was cut off. I silently raged. What was the General thinking?

" _Geez, that's a shame._ " Qrow suddenly spoke through the radio. The usual brash tone of his suddenly got all serious. No surprise there.

"You heard that, Qrow?"

" _I think everyone heard him, Commander. It was a direct call to all field operatives._ " Now it was Winter speaking. She sounded down and disappointed. I could relate to her.

" _I will not abandon them._ " Summer spoke with a gentle voice. That is what I admire about her; nothing could dampen her gentle spirit no matter what the future may have in store.

" _Me neither._ " Raven followed. I could see both her and Summer smiled at me, knowing what I would do next. I smiled to their honest answer. I wished people in charge to have a heart like these youths.

"Taiyang, can you hear me?"

" _I hear you loud and clear, Sir._ "

"Take some men with you and do whatever it needs to bring that VTOL to this location. I'm going to send a flare." I charged a fire arrow this time and shot to the sky. "The rest of you follow the flare signal and regroup. We will make a last stand here."

" _You got it, Commander._ " Taiyang cheerfully answered.

"The Gods protect us all, over and out." I prayed and turned the radio off. It was ridiculous actually, to pray to an entity we did not even know exist. A lot of our history was lost by time, up to the point we did not recognize any divine entity who served as gods. There are only legends and myths about the Maidens and the Silver-Eyes, but nothing about the creation of our universe, and who made it.

But I needed to set aside my existential question for later. I silently crept up the abandoned apartment building with a lot of balconies. Enough light for 20/20 vision, enough room to manoeuvre, perfect spot for snipers. Luckily no Grimm had infested this building yet, so I was able to concentrate on preparing without risking my safety.

After I set up the rendezvous point, I went out to the balcony to observe. The hordes of Grimm were mostly passive. They sensed the people's fear but because the building was sealed shut, they were not able to reach them. Not even from above where a flock of black flying Grimm flew in circular motion like vultures circling a dying animal.

"Summer, please escort all civilians to the helipad but there are groups of Nevermore currently circling around the building and above the rooftop. Stick to ranged weapon and kill as many of them as possible to clear the helipad area, but the safety of the people is your top priority, over."

" _Roger!_ " Summer swiftly responded and I could see her already moving the people to emergency stairs while carrying the immobilized one.

"Raven, I need you to lure every Grimm on your location and after I give the signal, bring them to my location. We will set an ambush and keep them busy until the VTOL is here. I will be sniping from here to provide backup, over."

" _You got it, Chief. And you can save the backup for later. Raven out._ " Raven smirked and readied her sword. I silently chuckled and shook my head. She was always so eager to exhibit her prowess in swordfights.

Right after she turned radio silent, I observed the building. I saw Raven kicked the huge door off and leaped into the nearest Goliath. The creature quickly turned and readied its snout to whip her, but she quickly swung her radiant red blade and created a beam of energy, cleanly cut off the monster's head and everything in the beam's path before she even landed on her feet. Of course it attracted all the Grimm around her, but I know she was excited for it. Two of the Ursa growled and leaped from her left and right. At that time I almost convinced that she was caught off-guard. But she proved me wrong as she jumped at the same level of her assailant and with one swift circular motion she split their head, again creating red blade beams which cut off more of them and angered even more.

" _Commander, we have arrived at the rendezvous point, over._ " I heard my earpiece spoke again. Then I looked around and saw roughly a dozen and a half of men and women, including Qrow, Winter, Ozpin, and the rest of the Huntsmen.

"Yeah, I saw you. Look above." I waved my spear to gain their attention and then they saw me at the second floor of a rundown apartment. "Create a parameter here and cover this avenue. For all rangers, find a vantage point to snipe. The rest of you prepare on the first floor and the streets and engage ONLY after the rangers cease firing. I don't want any friendly fire. Are we clear?"

"Sir, yes Sir!" I can hear them shouting from here without radio comm. I silently chuckled and thought " _Teens."_ , and then I helped arrange the position of ambush for everyone. In a minute or two, we had completed the preparation.

"Commander to Raven, we have the party waiting to get started. Bring the guests, over." I shot another flaming arrow to the sky to signal her.

" _Aww, then the party is already over for me, Chief._ " She mockingly said in a made-up disappointed but charming tone, but clearly she was only teasing him. I shook my head and smirked. No wonder if Taiyang fell for her.

Then I saw from afar, a red figure was being chased by a horde of Grimm in high speed. I raised my fist and made a sign to steady and hold fire. 300, 200, 100 meters away and I was still waiting. Our ammunition is drained and our supply of Dusts is almost out, so I had to make sure that every shot counts. Nearly 50 meters away from our location, I faintly saw Raven winked at me and leaped sideway inside the nearest building. That was her signal.

"Rangers, engage!" I point my hand to the horde. Almost instantly, every clips of ammunition we have were emptied and every explosion of Dust landmines went off. I could almost hear the Grimm's screamed in agony, if they have souls to feel pain. We wiped out the first wave in the first few seconds, but when I saw the second wave of monsters, I prepared my Rhongomyniad into the original spear form.

"Winter, make a glyph for me!" I ordered while I charge my spear with electricity from my Aura. She instinctively nodded and created a boosting glyph in the air. Right after it was ready, I hopped onto the glyph and launched away, Rhongomyniad poised onto the nearest Grimm. At the moment my charged tip of spear touched the monster, an explosion of crackling thunder erupted, leaving a crater with me kneeling in it where once a group of those creatures were standing. I did not take them all, it seems. Ursa and Beowulf and other monsters whose names were too difficult to spell surrounded me and charged all at once. I replaced my thunderous spear into a fiery one and once they saw the fire they stopped charging. However, an Ursa got a little cocky and leaped behind me. Reflexively I jumped from a kneeling position and positioned myself above the stumbled bear, then stabbed it on the back of its skull with a blazing spear tip. Even though they cannot scream, the sound of hissing when they disintegrate into black smokes was satisfying enough.

I spun and danced with my spear to keep them from closing in, while occasionally pierce their armour of bones and killed them without charging in thanks to the length of Rhongomyniad. I did not realize that Qrow already backing me up at my side and the rest of the Huntsmen already engaged in the fight.

"Don't take the entire spotlight for yourself, Sir." Qrow smirked while severing a Goliath's head with a scythe that used to be a sword.

"What are you, Grim Reaper or something?" I asked while I stabbed another Goliath in the chest.

"Nah, I'm just a scarecrow. Watch your head." He got into a stance while I instinctively crouched. Then he threw his weapon and it spun like a saw blade, cutting through the Goliath's leg and other monsters unlucky enough to be in its path. The scythe returned like a boomerang to Qrow's hand after it finished its course.

Even though the element of surprise wore off, we could handle the Grimm without any major problems. Summer already cleared the sky and currently gave sniper support from the rooftop a thousand meters away. Did I mention that she got silver eyes like in the legend? It was said that the descendant of silver eyed warriors were extraordinary and powerful, but I wonder if it helped her become one of the finest sniper the Remnant ever had.

But right now, I wonder more about how long it will take Taiyang to seize that VTOL.

" _Sorry for the delay, Commander._ " Right on cue, I could hear his voice from the radio together with the sound of fuel burning from the rocket propeller. I looked up and see it flying steadily towards our location.

" _Y-You have a lot of explanation for the General, Commander._ " The pilot spoke awkwardly, as if there was a blade on his neck or a gun aimed at his head. " _You know I must report of this… incident to the HQ one way or another._ "

"I will take all responsibilities and consequences with my decision, don't worry." I answered. "Go to the roof of the Chiron Building. Summer will meet you there."

" _Negative! Taiyang, don't bring the ship here!_ " Summer sounds panicked.

"Summer, is everything al…"

" _It's Gryphons!_ " I could hear their familiar yet horrible screech along with Summer's voice and gunfire from her rifle. A pair of Gryphons covered the sun and shadowed us.

"If we waste our time here, they will rip both Summer and the ship to the ground!" Raven said to me while her eyes still fixated unto the winged beasts. "We need to go aboard now!"

"Impossible! The building is 30 floors from the ground! Unless…" Winter's eyes suddenly showed the 'I have a stupid but awesome idea' look and shouted: "Follow me!" while she ran to the front of Chiron Building and the rest of us followed. Once we were there Winter created a huge glyph that covered us all, the same one she used to boost my jump.

"Err, Winter?" Qrow winced and awkwardly laughed. "Please tell me that you have done this before…?"

"No, I have not." Winter finished preparing the glyph and looked at us with a small hint of doubt. That was not reassuring at all. "Ready? Go!"

I am sure every single one of us was not ready when we were lifted up, not even me. But it worked, most of us reached the rooftop, and those who did not make it were either used their weapon to cling onto the side of the building or smashed themselves into 28th or 29th floor. Anyway, we managed to regroup with Summer on the roof and the civilians located directly below the roof on the 30th. The huntress amazingly was able to hold the giant Gryphons at bay while the VTOL flew around to outmanoeuvre them.

"You did extremely well." I said once she approached me to give a salutation. She just smiled and bowed her head, while Qrow and Raven regrouped with her and gave her their own praises and smiles.

"Taiyang, bring down the transport, we will cover you." I said to him while I readied the bow form of Rhongomyniad and materialized a special arrow made from concentrated ice, which will explode into a freezing explosion and turned anything that got caught in it frozen solid. Not suited for killing, but it would stun at least one of them for a few moments. Winter and Ozpin was already rounding up the civilians to the roof, while team STRQ – minus Taiyang – arranged a firing line with other available Huntsmen to cover the transport once it landed.

Once the VTOL safely landed, the Gryphons finally noticed that the plane is stopping and they fiercely flew down to attack it. Without hesitating, I released the stretched string of Rhongomyniad and the freezing arrow found its way to one of the beasts' chest. As I expected, it exploded and turned the monster into an ice statue, then it flew past us before finally fell down. I can almost hear it broke into millions of ice cubes seconds later.

The other Gryphon was as unlucky as the one before. It received a bullet in the left eye from Summer, a huge 'X' bloody mark in its chest from the Branwen siblings, and a body full of leads and cuts from others. Taiyang even managed to uppercut it right in its beak and cracked it. Even though the flying monster was still flying, I was sure it would hesitate to bother us again.

It took us 10 minutes to finish loading the civilians and ourselves into the ship before finally taking off. The VTOL was big enough to fit 100 people, fortunately. Therefore nobody will be left behind. But it seems the bird was not happy to let us left unscathed, because it flew into us desperately to destroy both the ship and itself.

"Oh no, you don't." I ran to the edge of the open platform behind the VTOL and channelled the last bit of Aura I had left into my spear once again.

"NO!" I hear Summer screamed at me. But I was already on the mid-air, the tip of my spear crackled with electricity poised at the Gryphon. Thunder erupted after Rhongomyniad made contact with the target. I hopelessly thrown away and tried to grab something, but I only feel cold air. For a moment I feel like I was falling into my doom, to the afterlife.

But something stopped me.

"Lèi, are you okay?!" I opened my eyes slowly. I saw Summer's silver eyes with a look of worry and fear, but also a look of relief. At first I thought she was hanging on the sky to save me, but then I saw Raven and Taiyang were holding each of her legs, and she was grabbing the straps of my leather armour.

"You jumped from a flying ship just to reach me?" I asked her with a smile and she replied with a smile of her own. Then I feel myself lifted and before I knew it, we were already on board again.

"Please don't do that again, Sir." Summer released her hood and uncovers her dark red hair; her eyes were as gentle as I first saw them. The eyes that always remind me to live, to see their owner smiles happily.

"I won't."

* * *

"You have disappointed me, Commander."

I did not deny his comment. I did not even care whatever the General had in his mind. I barely knew him, because he was elected by the politicians all around Remnant to lead this spec ops unit and we as members did not have a choice. Even after he introduced himself, I did not bother on remembering his name. He is simply 'The General' to me. He is a walking stereotype of old-school army general in action movies: no sense of humour, inflexible, has superiority complex, and so on.

"Operative Lèi Cyrus, you have committed an insubordination when you are clearly ordered to abandon your mission. That behaviour could result in compromising your unit's safety."

That statement reminded me that I am currently at the centre of the court room, in the safety of the City of Vale. We had returned with the rest of the civilians. Everyone was happy to see my unit succeeded in our mission, except the General and his accomplices, obviously. They decided to drag me into a trial they had made up, with pre-arranged judges, juries, and prosecutor which of course was the General himself.

"I made the decision to continue the rescue. My unit's safety is still my number one priority. We managed to finish the mission without any casualties." I answered without looking at the asking prosecutor.

"You failed to understand the basic of organizational skill, to follow orders."

"I have the right to deny orders that contradict my moral codes."

"You're implying that I have no moral codes?!" The General slammed his hand to the wooden table. His wrinkled eyes completely fixated at me.

"You ordered my unit to abandon a rescue mission you gave yourself!" I stood up furiously and knocked over my chair. "With all respect, what in the world is wrong with you, General?!"

"That is a call I'm willing to make for your unit's safety! You know nothing!"

"Oh believe me, I know everything." I picked my chair up and sat back, and then I smirked knowingly. "The people I saved back then were the employees of the Chiron R&D Department, which is the one responsible for the Grimm breakout in the area."

"You're talking nonsense." He managed to hold the poker face – a trait he can boast about – but I was sure he was caught by surprise at least half a second.

"That department was responsible for research in Remnant's wildlife preservation." I continued on. "But it was only a cover for another research, a study about Grimm. They caught and kept hundreds of Grimm inside an underground facility directly below the Chiron building, delivered from Glenn Mountain via subways."

The awkward silence confirmed my story. They already know about this matter, but they did not know that I know it too. I felt that I need to thank Summer once again for finding this little info.

"The Grimms were experimented on to learn about their origins and how to control them, which is ridiculous because we are supposed to get rid of them, not to keep them as mindless pets. Then of course bringing them into the middle of residential area is never a good idea. They eventually found their way out and slaughtered hundreds of innocents. You wanted to leave the employees trapped because they are witnesses of this stupid research – which turns out to be supported financially by some politicians. If their names are spread between the citizens, they will lose their support on the next election. Thus here I am, in the middle of your little conspiracy."

I was pleased to see their guilty faces after I finished talking. But this was me versus them. I have no power against those corrupted leaders, not legally.

"That was a baseless accusation. You are not getting away with this." the General spoke after what seemed to be 5 minutes of awkward silence. I shrugged and relaxed on my chair, with no intention to argue anymore. The judge, who kept his silent throughout the hearing, finally grabbed his hammer, ready to finalize this meaningless trial.

"Since the prosecuted did not deny the prosecutor words, I hereby declare you guilty of all charges. Operative Lèi Cyrus will be discharged from the Huntsmen's Alliance. Also, you will be suspended from any Huntsmen operation until further notice."

He hammered the wooden table three times before the judge stood up and left, followed by everybody in the court room.

I sat there for a minute before lazily got up and walked through the exit door, my mind wandered. I knew this would happen, and I did not regret for anything. I did the right thing, I assure myself. However, I was also worried about the people I left behind. Will they be alright? Will they survive without me? I thought about it and laughed in my head. I sounded like a father to his children. If this kept up I might be older than I remember.

At that moment I realized I already missed them, especially her.

"They sent you home?" A voice awakened me from my daydream. Turned out I unconsciously walked through the armoury and grabbed Rhongomyniad, then strolled some more to the exit gate of the HQ. Unknown to me, all of the Hunter and Huntresses in my now former unit followed me all the way.

I turned around slowly to meet dozens of young men and women. Their eyes were a mix of emotion – doubt, disappointment, anger, worry, but most of all: thankful.

"It was an honour to be of your service, Commander." Winter stepped forward and fully bowed, followed by other Hunter and Huntresses from Atlas Academy. I chuckled at their overly formal manner. Atlas surely knows how to teach their young to be proper for military. Being lost for words, I gently touched her shoulder to let her know that she did not need to bow down, because our respect is mutual.

"It's going to be boring without you around." Qrow grinned while offering me a handshake, which I accept happily. Taiyang did not say a word, but he offered a handshake and a fist bump, also with a smile.

"My brother is actually pissed off right now, because you're the only commander who tolerates his smug attitude." Raven stepped up front and playfully punched Qrow's shoulder, then winked at me while saying: "But yeah, we will miss you."

"Thank you for everything, Commander." Ozpin saluted.

"Please take care." Glynda shyly said and bowed.

"Thank you, all of you. It was a pleasure." I saluted, which they replied with the same gesture. I silently prayed to the gods whom I do not know, wishing that their honest souls will stay that way, no matter if I was not there to guide them or anything that will happen.

Finally I lowered my arm, and silently gestured them to return to their post. I have caused enough trouble for them, so I will let today be the last. Eventually they walked away one by one until the front gate is clear, save from me and unsurprisingly – the one and only Summer Rose.

"You know, I think you should become a teacher." Summer slowly strolled towards me and stopped close enough to hear each other's breathe. She was a head shorter, so she looked up into my dark grey eyes and smiled.

"Not sure about that… I only know how to attack or defend a perimeter." I rubbed my head and grinned at her, while Summer giggled upon hearing my response.

"It doesn't matter, silly. It's your heart that makes you special." She said while placing her hand on my chest. "I know you. You cared about our well-being, and we look up to you. You prefer to watch everybody around you to succeed than becoming the only one to make it on top. You despise arrogance and treat us like human beings. Today, you even sacrificed yourself for us. Those are the noblest things I admire about you."

"Huh, I was never aware of that." I blushed both at her compliment and how she easily read me.

"So… what will you do now?" She flustered and released her hand from me, which was there too long than she intended to.

"I think I'm going to travel around Remnant rather than sitting around until my suspension wore off. See if I can learn a new thing or two."

She looked disheartened when I said the world 'travel'.

"…Will I see you again?"

"I doubt it will be a short trip. But yeah, we will meet again someday. I will send you post cards."

"In that case, I have something for you."

She handed me a neatly folded fabric, with a colour of white. I silently asked her permission to unfold the gift and she gave it. When the cloth was fully extended, I realize it was a cloak, along with a hoodie attached. It was the exact same cloak she usually wears.

"I made a new one for you, since your old cloak got shredded months ago." She rubbed her arm shyly while looking down. "I never managed to find the right moment to give this to you, until now."

I looked at the clean, new cloak with awe. It was made from a strong and waterproof fabric. She gave me the perfect parting gift for my journey. Without hesitation I covered myself with the cloak and buttoned it.

"Thank you, Summer. I love it." I said while smiling widely.

I touch her shoulder to give my gratitude, but instead of saying anything to reply, she caught me off guard. Summer threw herself and hugged my taller figure tightly. Her face was buried in my chest; her arms locked me into place. I was flustered at her unexpected action, but I hugged her back and rest my chin on her head.

 _I'm going to miss you too._

We eventually released each other while both of us tried not to meet eye to eye. My cheeks were warm, and I am sure she was too. When we managed to actually look at each other, we laughed softly at our blushing selves.

"I will be waiting for your post cards!" Summer shouted while she turned around and ran back to the building, her eyes and smile never leaving me even when I turned to go. I stood there for a while, waiting for her figure to fade away from my sight. Fragrance of roses from the gifted cloak and the warmth of her body still lingered.

 _Wherever I go, you will be in my heart_.

* * *

 **Author Notes:**

Since RWBY is quite strict in naming terms, it took quite a long time for me to name our fugitive Hunter. So here is the explanation of the name.

Lèi (雷) is Chinese word for 'thunder' because of course, the main element of Lèi is thunder and his color is electric-sky blue. Meanwhile Cyrus (Greek: κύριος, kýrios _)_ means 'lord' or 'master' and are often used in Biblical Greek. When joined together it will translates to 'thunder lord' or 'thunder god'. It is also a nod to my favorite game character. Try to guess who it is. ;)

We knew that RWBY's timeline is a bit confusing, since I cannot determine most of the character's age. The certain thing is this is set 20 years before the original RWBY, which means it is 3 years before our main characters were even conceived (well, 5 years for Ruby). The most troubling thing is how I fit Winter Schnee in here. Originally I wanted to show the relationship between her and Qrow, but later I realized if Winter is the same age of Qrow (let's assume team STRQ is 17 years old here) then Winter would be 37 in the show. I know it is ridiculous, but I need her here.

Please review! Your input will be appreciated. I will also answer about this alternate universe's lore.

See you next time!


	2. Hidden Away

" _Lèi…"_

" _Hello again, Summer"_

 _I waved my hand to the void, since I can only hear her voice._

"… _Lèi."_

" _Are you going to keep saying my name?"_

 _She would always haunt my dreams lately, saying nothing other than that. But hearing her voice always soothes my troubled heart._

"…"

 _Dead silence._

" _I'm sorry for leaving so long… But please, say anything other than my name…"_

"… _Ruby."_

" _Huh?"_

 _Well, that was a start._

" _Please keep Ruby safe, Lèi."_

 _I assumed Ruby was a name, so I asked: "Who is Ruby?"_

"… _I'm sorry, Lèi. I wish I can tell you more." I could hear her sobbing softly. "But I must be gone, I hope for just a while."_

 _I tried to reply, but the abyss silenced my voice._

" _I know you would tear Remnant apart to see me again, Lèi. I want to see you, too."_

 _I could hear her sweet giggles between the sobbing tears._

" _But please, keep Ruby safe from danger, until we all meet again."_

* * *

"I promise."

I woke up from the slumber with warm, wet eyes. They were blurred with tears, but I smelled wet wood and fresh fragrance of showered pine trees. My cabin was standing near the edge of the forest, so I always love it when the rain comes and the forest refreshes. It reminded me of the green land of Vale.

I stayed in Mistral for a few years now. Before that I had stayed in the cold and freezing Atlas, the hot desert of Vacuo, sometimes on the sea on-board the ship or camping beside the roads and forests. Everywhere is my home now. But never a day I forget about Vale. It is my hometown, where most of my friends and fellow Huntsmen live.

I woke up from my single bed to the bathroom and decided to get a nice and cold shower. It was excruciatingly freezing, truly. But I needed to wake my brain cells, especially after the last dream I saw. I found it both weird and depressing, because I mostly forget about my dreams as soon as I fully awake. But this time, I could remember every little thing about it. The voice, the tears, and the words I heard; it was branded on my long-term memory. As if it was not dream, but a telepathic vision.

I turned off the shower and grabbed a thick towel from its hanger, and then I dried myself and wrapped everything but left the bare torso alone. I walked to the cabinet with mirrors attached to it and studied my reflection. There was almost no change to my face, thankfully. Oval, ashen eyes, firm jaw, smile wrinkles, and no facial hairs – because I cannot even grew a good moustache or beard. I smirked at myself. Who knows that being a nomad would keep you from aging? The only thing that showed my age was my hair. My once dark grey hair becomes silver, because two decades decided that it would look nice on me.

For a fifth of a century I had walked and explored Remnant, yet I did not have the chance to return to Vale. For some reason every time I booked a flight to Vale the authority always rejected my passport. Maybe the corrupt men who knew my 'insubordination' managed to become council members and decided to blacklist me from my homeland entirely.

In the meantime I sent postcards to all of my former team members, but mostly to team STRQ, Winter, Ozpin, and Glynda. Of course, Summer always get the most postcards from my journey. We communicated with that conventional method for the first year. However after 'email' got popular we decided to switch to it, where I can send digital postcards within seconds. Thank Gods for technology.

However, I cannot contact Summer either since the last few years. Taiyang and Raven never replied my emails, Qrow and Winter was not in Vale, Ozpin and Glynda lost contact with her, too. Every day my worry grew; not being able to go home and seek the answer made it worse.

"Ruby Rose…" I rehearse that name while cooking eggs and toasts after I clothed myself. I thought hard on her last message even when I finished my breakfast. _Keep Ruby safe_. Whoever Ruby is, I knew she – I thought Ruby was a feminine name – was someone important to Summer.

I sat at the working desk after I was finished with the dishes. As usual, I reread my list of freelance hunting assignments and bounty targets which were stacked on its smooth wooden surface before bed. They were filed into stapled papers. It was not that I did not know how to use computers to file them; it was just a hassle to re-input hard copies everyday just to be deleted half a day later. In fact, I did have a laptop for filing various intel important enough to be saved in its hard disk.

But I would not sit down at the desk all day. There are Grimms waiting to be rid of.

I stood up and donned my armour from its wardrobe – not forgetting my white cloak. This gift from her always made me feel warm, and I treasure it every second of my life. Then I opened the weapon locker and grabbed my old, trusty Rhongomyniad – already sharpened and polished. After I was battle ready, I took the top stack of my assignment papers and went outside.

* * *

"How is her condition?" Ozpin spoke to Glynda in an empty hall, far beneath the Beacon Academy. The hall was lit dimly; small neon lamps on the wall did not provide enough light to the large room.

"Stable, but she's still in coma." Glynda spoke softly while fixing her glasses. In front of them, at the end of the hall were some device and two metal boxes. One can see that it was incubators and life support machines. In one of the open box was a woman with red-brown hair, her beautiful face was scarred and her only indication of living is her steady breath and her health status on the monitor.

"I cannot believe the Fall Maiden can be defeated to this level." Glynda caressed her hair, her sad tone were full of sympathy and anger.

"Our enemy is strong, no doubt. But putting Lady Amber into a coma…" Ozpin sighed deeply and removed his glasses. "Then our enemy is not what we expected."

Glynda turned her head to see him, silently observing his expression. She knew him; she fought together for a long time. They ran a Hunter academy together for years, and yet she never saw him this disturbed before.

"Ozpin…"

The headmaster looked up from his deep thinking and realized that Glynda were staring at him; her eyes were softly calming him unknowingly.

"We will stop whoever threatens us and everyone," Glynda straighten herself and reassured him.

Ozpin smiled and nodded a little. She returned the gesture, then she closed the incubator and air-locked it. After that they silently walk back together to the elevator at the far end of the hall.

"We may need to call some backup to help defend Beacon." Ozpin spoke, breaking the silence.

"You mean Qrow?" Glynda raised an eyebrow.

"Everyone we can depend on, maybe Winter Schnee from Atlas would like to join."

"I heard her sister would apply here too."

"Well, what a coincidence." Ozpin remarked while putting his glasses back on. "This younger Schnee has a reason to choose here than Atlas, I presume?"

"I honestly had no idea." Glynda shrugged.

"Taiyang's daughter also applied, Qrow told me. Sadly Taiyang would be too busy to join us."

"This is like a reunion." Glynda commented.

"Speaking of reunion…" Ozpin stopped and turned to her. "I think there is one person left to invite."

* * *

"Here's your bounty." An old man in middle age clothed in a tailored suit happily said and gave me a thick envelope. "Thanks for keeping our town safe, Sir Lèi."

"Ah, what can I say? I am a Hunter, Mr. Mayor" I received the payment smilingly. "It is my job nonetheless."

"I am glad you are willing to stay here in this little town. Without any Huntsman this town would be overrun by Grimms already."

I only grinned to the mayor, and then I turned around to exit his house.

"That reminds me; you told me that you're from Vale right?"

That question stopped me in my tracks. _Why all of the sudden?_ I asked myself.

"Sorry if I offend you but, you've been here for years." His tone is full of concern rather than judgemental. "If you wanted to return home or visit your family and friends there, please don't let us hold you."

"Mayor, I…" I began to speak but he interrupted.

"We are grateful for what you did, Sir Lèi. But you look weary." The mayor said. "Well not as weary as me – especially regarding your non-aging face. You know what I mean."

I chuckled at his remark while he laughed.

"My point is, if you have something to finish in your homeland, please don't hold yourself here."

"I wish I could, Mr. Mayor." I turned around and walked to the exit door, smiling rather sadly.

 _I wish I could_.

It was 5 in the evening when I walked out from the house. The sun began to set, creating an orange sky above my head. I looked up and saw the moon and a few bright stars were already shining. The town was filled with people roaming the streets. The children were playing cheerfully on the open field nearby; the adults were either chatting happily or finishing their works before they got home for the rest of the night.

I may miss Vale, but I love to be here.

I greet a few townsfolk on my way to my cabin. Mostly they asked about how's my hunting goes today and thanked me for being here in this little settlement. I do not want to be treated as a hero or anything, but as the only Huntsman in that town, I can only smile to their praises.

When I finally enter my cabin, I realized that my laptop's light indicator was blinking in the dark. _I accidentally put it in standby mode rather than turn it off_ , I thought to myself. I turned on the light switch nearby, removed my cloak, and put my spear on the wall before sitting on my desk. I opened the device and the screen turned on. On the bottom right side there was an email notification.

"I rarely got emails recently." I mumbled and then raised an eyebrow after I saw the sender's name. "Especially from Ozpin…" I clicked on the hyperlink and the email opened.

 _From: Ozpin, Beacon Academy_

 _To: Lèi Cyrus_

 _Subject: [none]_

 _Greetings, Mr. Lèi, how have you been?_

 _Before anything, I want to tell you that your passport has been cleared as I'm writing this email. I'm sorry that it took so long to process, because the council was so strict in letting a 'fugitive' re-enter the kingdom._

 _The reason I'm writing this is because we need to gather our forces. There are new enemies threatening not only Vale, but the rest of Remnant. So far they were successful in defeating Amber. She lost half of her power because of it._

 _Let's discuss more in person; I'm afraid this email might have been compromised._

* * *

I knocked hard on the mayor's house before he finally opened his door. His face showed his confusion, especially after he saw me in complete travelling gear – Rhongomyniad on my back, white cloak covered my armour, and a bag of supplies.

"What can I help you, Sir Lèi?" He finally asked. "Is there a problem?"

"I have to go, urgent calls. I need a transport to the nearest dock."

"No problem." He grabbed his phone from his pocket and dialled a number. Minutes later a jeep came in front of the house. "I hope this was sufficient enough."

"It is a luxury, Mr. Mayor." I smiled gratefully. "I hope you can find a better Hunter to protect this town."

"You're going to Vale, I presume?" The mayor asked knowingly. "And don't worry about us, we shall survive."

I offered a handshake, which he gladly accepted. Then I hopped on the open seat behind the driver. I tapped the driver on the shoulder, and the jeep went away. I could feel the evening wind on my face, but my cloak warmed the rest of my body. I sighed contently and held the white fabric close, slightly reminiscing about her.

 _All these words that you meant to say, held in silence day after day._

 _Words of kindness that our poor hearts crave, please don't keep them hidden away._

 _I'm coming home, Summer_.

* * *

 **Author Notes:**

So, even a chapter a month is not enough. I'm terribly, truly apologize that this went up very late. I'm on the brink on finishing my degree, and there are this virtual stacks of assignments and drafted papers waiting on my hard drive. Again, please forgive my disability in time management.

This chapter is served as some kind of "bridge" between 20 years ago and current canon timeline, retelling about Lèi's well-being in a short 2000+ word. It lacked any fight sequence (sorry again) because I have no idea about making solo Grimm fighting interesting. I tried at some point, but it's just plain boring. So I cut that part out. Expect the full fight experience next chapter :)

A little bit of trivia, I listened to "Hidden Away" by Josh Groban while I'm writing this and ended up searching for the lyric, then sing along. I realized that the lyrics were quite reflecting Lèi's feeling on our heroine, so I chose the title as the chapter title. What can I say? I love romantic songs. :D


	3. Those Who Fight

**Edit Notes:**

There's a few grammatical error when I re-read this, so I made an edit. Please notify me if you still found those. Thanks for reading!

* * *

When the sun gave its place to the shattered moon, the downtown of Vale also changed from a prosperous, peaceful area into criminal's playground. Dark alleys were filled with either thugs or muggers, which sadly included discriminated Faunus who dislikes humans entirely. The half-beast race there mostly did not have a choice to begin with, which somehow grew sympathy for some Faunus activists or become self-righteous themselves.

Tonight however, the dark alleys were unusually empty. Almost empty actually, for a gang of not-so-usual people in clean suits and fedora hats walked the town's cold streets. Most of them wore black suit jackets, but one in particular – who also seemed to be the leader – wore a flashy white ones. But it was not the jacket that made him a sore thumb; it was his orange hair paired with an out-of-place emo hairstyle. If he was trying to be inconspicuous, he would fail miserably.

Even though the orange-haired man was young in appearance, he walked with a metal cane which seemed to be only for accessories. In contrary, the people who followed him had either swords or handguns holstered on their belt, all of them with matching red colour. In result, most people who met with them were either back away or even turn around and ran. It was a normal night for the one and only Roman Torchwick.

At least normal until the clean suits on him was stained brown. He unfortunately bumped into someone holding a fresh paper cup of coffee which resulted in him spilling the hot content to him. Roman, obviously furious, grabbed the man by his cloak's collar; revealing a man with silver hair.

"Do you have any idea how expensive this suit is?" Roman spoke with a smug smirk on his face, but clearly wanting to instil fear to the man he held.

"No, but I guess it must be dry cleaned." He replied with a relaxed tone, clearly unafraid by Roman's intimidation.

"Oh, seems like you've got a sense of humour!" The orange-haired man laughed sarcastically. "So, you know who I am, old man?"

"Are you joking? Your hair gave your identity miles away, Roman Torchwick."

"Now you're just pissing me off." Roman slammed the man to the nearby wall; his face clearly lost his smug looks. "Give me a reason why I should not let my men skin you here."

"Simple," the white-haired man spoke while dusting his white cloak with his hand. "You can't."

"Another night passed, another boring day."

A teenage girl sighed with her cheeks puffed out to make it chubbier than usual. She strolled slowly through the row of closed shops, clearly oblivious that she was wandering around in the middle of the night. Her overall red attire did not help her to blend in either. She wore a black and red dress with corset and leggings, but it was her bright red cape that gave her away. But she did not care about people giving her weird look; the music on her matching red headphone was too good to distract her.

One might wonder why a child, heavily armed with an equipment fitted for a Huntress, was not in her bed sleeping peacefully. Only she knew the reason, but she was capable enough to fend for herself. She was a student of Signal Academy after all, one of the best junior combat schools in the Kingdom of Vale.

Eventually the music playlist were run out, and the headphone went silent. The girl sighed and removed it from her ears, then let it hung around her neck. She almost decided to go home and forget whatever she planned to do, if she did not see a ruckus currently happening in front of her. A man with an orange hair and dirty white suit along with half a dozen black-suited goons cornered a tall man with silver hair and a white cloak around him.

The white garment was somehow familiar to her…

"Hey!" The girl instinctively unleashed her weapon strapped on her back, which turned out to be a huge scythe. "Let the old man go! Don't you have any respect for the elderly?"

All of them turned their head towards the voice's source, especially those two in quarrel. The Silver and the Orange in particular – the child mentally noted their nicknames – were giving her a confused look.

"Am I really looking THAT old?" The man in white cloak frowned and brushed his hair with his free hand while the other guy chuckled amusedly.

"So, a Little Red Riding Hood tried to fight the wolf, eh?" He shifted his attention to the girl, clearly ignored the fact that she was holding a scythe twice her size. "Tell me, kid… Do you even know how to use that farming tool of yours?"

"Stand back!" The girl pulled the bolt on the shaft of her scythe. "It's a Huntress job to clean this city from gangsters like you!"

"Oh, playing a hero, aren't you?" Roman lifted his cane and pointed it towards her. "But you need to learn more before fighting a pro like me."

From his cane, a flash of light blasted from the bottom of his cane like a firework. She instinctively jumped sideways to the empty road, leaving the light ball to explode and created a crater on the pavement. The red-cloaked girl, still hanging on the air, prepared her weapon and then fired away; strangely to an empty air behind her. The massive recoil sent her straight towards him as if the shot was actually a burst of boost; then she swung it right to his neck. Roman was faster however; he managed to leap behind and missed the blade by a few centimetres. He rolled on the ground and stood up; his weaponized cane was lined for another shot.

"Nice move, Red." Roman teased her and smirked. "Now let's see you fight against a pack."

Roman waved his hand to his henchmen, and they upholstered their own swords and guns. She did not take chances, she quickly charged towards the group with unusual speed. Roman fled behind his men, while they began to surround her. She noticed their intention, and then she boosted herself to the closest gangster and kicked him in the face and audibly cracked his jaw. _One down_ , she noted happily while moving toward another target. He was holding a gun, but before he was able to pull the trigger, the girl knocked the weapon away from his hand, and then struck his head with the shaft of her weapon. _Two and counting_ , she did not take a breather and continued. Two men charged with swords poised to her. She blocked the blows from one and evaded the swing from the other, and then she struck one of them away and shot the other guy almost at the same time. She of course thrown away by the recoil, but she used it as leverage and landed a kick on another one's face.

"Noisy little punk…"

Roman aimed at the girl without her knowing, but he glanced sideways to notice a flash of blue before he ducked, and then he blocked another two strikes. The silver-haired man held a blue spear that was hidden under his cloak, unbeknownst to the gangster.

"Too bad for you," Lèi Cyrus smirked and spoke. "It's two Huntsmen in one day, as if your day can't get any worse than a dirty laundry."

Roman Torchwick gritted his teeth, and then pushed the spear away from him. His cane now used as a baton, he thrust the shaft towards his torso. Lèi managed to deflect it with his left arm, while his spear on his right hand hit the gangster on his knee. Roman knelt from the blow, but he managed to block a series of blows to him before he rolled out and shot the spear-wielder. Lèi did not evade the ball of flash; instead he struck the projectile with Rhongomyniad and let it exploded in front of him.

The explosion created a fog of dust however, and when it dissipated Roman Torchwick was already gone. Lèi sighed and looked towards the girl he almost forgotten. He raised an eyebrow, because she was standing straight and unharmed, while fully grown thugs were all knocked out full of bruises and cuts. She even managed to not kill any of them.

It took a while before she finally looked at him directly, her face and eyes seems sparkling.

"Are you… a Hunter?"

"Err, yeah?" Lèi smiled awkwardly.

"CAN I HAVE YOUR AUTOGRAPH?" She gleefully asked with an expression as innocent as possible and a smile as wide as her face can handle.

"Umm…" Lèi rubbed his neck and chuckled uncomfortably. The fact that this child was able to fight so well while still childish in nature disturbed him a little.

"Wait, isn't that the orange-haired bad guy?" She pointed to the sky behind him and Lèi automatically turned around. Roman Torchwick was standing on the roof of a 5-story apartment building. "You will not get away, criminal!"

The girl in red ran towards him and Lèi followed her; not because he wanted to catch the gangster, but rather because he was worried about the girl. The culprit was trained in combat, armed, and did not hesitate to kill. He must be apprehended carefully; he was a wanted criminal after all. She boosted herself and flew to the roof in a second, while he climbed the emergency stairs attached on the side of the building.

"Stop right there!" She said right when the Hunter reached the rooftop, her rifled scythe aimed to his head. Lèi also grabbed Rhongomyniad, just in case.

"Persistent…" he muttered audibly. He turned around and pocketed his phone which he used for a while. "You've just made powerful enemies, Red."

As if on cue, a VTOL aircraft descended from the dark skies. The rocket propeller blew away gusts of dusts to distract the girl and the Hunter enough for him to jump on the safety of the ship. The ship was a military standard but plain, Lèi noted briefly. No kingdom emblems, no White Fang symbol, not even a serial number which is a basic requirement for any aircraft. One can only wonder how he can get a hand on that.

"A bit of parting gift," Roman sat behind the machine gun turret that Lèi failed to notice earlier.

"Bloody hell," He cursed and then searched around for any possible cover, but the rooftop was mostly empty save a few metal chimneys and air ducts. They will not hold for more than a second against high calibre bullets.

"Ah…" The girl was stunned by the display, unable to move. She was only a girl after all.

"GET AWAY!" Lèi told her, but her legs failed to obey the command. The turret was beginning to spin up, and he only got a little time. Lèi, clearly out of his mind, covered her with his body; his back facing the aim of the turret. At that very moment he did not think anything else but the girl's safety. The girl's silvery eyes were glowing bright despite of her fear.

 _Wait… silver eyes?_

"…Barrier!"

Lèi barely heard a feminine voice along with a barrage of gunshots. He could almost feel hot leads pierced his skin, but nothing happened besides exploding ammunitions. Not even a hit to the floor, as if the shots were blank. Lèi slowly turned around and saw a woman with a riding crop controlling a purple glyph that covered them all. She was blonde; her hair was tied into a single bun. She wore a long-sleeved white shirt and black skirts along with black stockings, but it was her cape that Lèi recognized; black and purple with a golden crown symbol.

"Glynda, is it…?"

"It's nice to see you again, Lèi." Glynda turned her head sideways and smiled a bit, but her face returned to full concentration. Her purple glyph that she kept up was holding and stopping every bullet that touched it, and then it fell to the concrete floor harmlessly. Roman eventually ran out of bullets and so he stopped. Glynda saw the opening, and telepathically lifted thousands of the still hot leads. After a few moments, the bullets flew back to the shooter like a swarm of hornets would sting their target. The aircraft was steel-plated however, and neither Roman nor the pilot got hit although the bullet managed to make holes and cracks to the cockpit's windows.

"We got TWO Huntsmen!" Roman ran to the co-pilot's seat and said to the woman controlling the aircraft. The woman in short red dress – which barely covered her thighs – came into view of the group, save from her face which was covered in shadows. Only a pair of bright fiery eyes can be seen from the darkness. Lèi could somehow sense the woman's overflowing power; even when he, Glynda, and the girl in red clearly outnumbered her, he still was not sure if they can apprehend her.

But Glynda did not hesitate to attack first. She shot what seems to look like a burst of violet magic bullets from her crop. The projectile hit the aircraft and shook it quite hard, yet the woman inside it did not seem to be shaken. In return, she shot a barrage of fire balls to the group. Lèi and the girl rolled backwards to evade them, while Glynda used her barrier once more to disperse the shot. The fire ball broke into fragments around her, and then the woman's arms glowed with the same fiery colour with her eyes, forming a bright tribal pattern. The fragment began to ignite and seemed ready to explode. Glynda back-flipped before the explosion surrounded her; instead it boosted her jump and then she landed unharmed.

The girl with the scythe initiatively shot after she returned to her fighting stance. Glynda did not skip a beat; she summoned a dark cloud which rained ice spikes, keeping the aircraft from getting away. Lèi did not miss the opportunity. Rhongomyniad in his hand shifted its form; he pulled the string and a huge arrow in pure flames formed. He aimed at one of the rocket propeller. Since it was made from strong steel, it will take quite a big charge for his arrow to pierce the material. The flame arrow grew bigger and brighter, the usual red colour turned into blue as the flame grew hotter.

"Glynda, keep the VTOL steady!" Lèi shouted. Beside of Dust manipulation, he knew that she was capable of telekinesis.

"I'm on it!" Glynda replied, the cloud was now gone. The mage Huntress took a deep breath once, and then she pointed her crop to the aircraft. The huge flying machine were covered in violet aura and stopped moving around other than flying steadily. "Hurry, I can't keep this up for long!"

"Hey, kid!" Lèi called to the girl. "If you still have some rounds, keep the woman in there busy for a while!"

"…S-Sir!" She stuttered while she was reloading a fresh magazine. While the woman in the VTOL was ready to shoot another barrage of fire balls, she delayed them by shooting her. The woman somehow managed to block the bullets with her bare hands, much to his surprise.

But the girl managed to give him a few seconds. When the flame arrow in his hand was starting to shine bright white, Lèi released it. The arrow went straight to the propeller, pierced it and also the body of the aircraft. It took a second for the jet engine to explode. The VTOL aircraft lose their lifting power and went down. The woman in red managed to jump away after the explosion to the nearest rooftop. The same could not be said for Roman, who went down along with it.

The woman was standing straight at the rooftop of the building across from theirs. The moonlight now revealed the rest of her face, although the group cannot see her facial details because of the distance between them. Lèi could see her smirked amusedly however, and she began to jump down the buildings.

"I think I should go after her while you two apprehend Roman." Lèi said while pointing to the destroyed VTOL on the road, but then he face-palmed himself in the forehead. "I'm ordering you around again, aren't I?"

"I think I miss it actually." Glynda sighed while lifted her lips in one side. Then she shifted her attention to the girl beside her, her expression went from soft to stern and her eyebrows showed her disapproval. "You and I will have a talk after this, young lady." The scythe girl smiled awkwardly while scratching her head. Lèi could only cringe at her. He had no idea the once shy Glynda were able to be a scornful woman.

After that, Lèi went down by sliding down a nearby sturdy pipe, and then landed on the dark alleyway. He ran to the main roads, which he found empty at the first glance. Lèi ran around and searched through nearby blocks, but he cannot find any trace of the woman. However her disappearance was not his primary concern. It was her power that troubled him a bit. Although one could say that Glynda is evenly matched with the fiery-eyed woman, she was capable of unleashing her powers without tools or weapons. Glynda could do that of course, but she uses her crop if she wants to be in her one hundred percent.

"So, where did you go now?" Lèi slowed his pace into a stroll and mumbled to himself.

"You are one of a kind, you know that?"

He was startled by the whispering, alluring voice dangerously close to his ear. Lèi reflexively turned around while directing his fist onto whomever behind him. His hand was caught by a delicate palm, but it was firm enough to stop the swing. Before Lèi could see the face, he was sent flying by a blast of fire, exploding right in front of his chest. He was sent stumbling, but Lèi managed to right himself into kneeling position.

"So handsome and mature," the woman in red dress approached slowly. "It is such a pity that we are on the opposing sides."

"That power of yours," Lèi spoke while getting up. He managed to see at the woman more clearly now, but she was hiding her face by keeping herself in the shadows. _She was carefully hiding her identity_ , Lèi remarked silently. "It is not a power you can have by training alone. Who are you?"

"So you've noticed." She answered calmly. "My name is no importance to you, Huntsman."

"You worked with a wanted man." Lèi commented; the Rhongomyniad on his back was now in his hand. "I'll let the police do the asking."

"I have no interest to go to jail." The nameless witch said lazily. "Another place, another time, we will cross each other again."

She moved her arms flexibly into a gesture Lèi did not care to know, and beneath his feet the once stone cold pavement was now burning red. Rather than evading backward, the Huntsman leaped forward towards the witch leaving the explosion behind him; the spear's silver tip charged to her head. She did not evade either; instead she created a blast of flame barrier that blew everything around her. Lèi stopped at his track and kneel down. When the blast was gone, he looked up to find nothing but smouldered debris of concretes.

"The orange guy…" Lèi looked around the corner and saw the girl in red and Glynda ran towards him. The girl spoke while panting for air. "He was gone, not even a piece of his hair."

"He was able to avoid the police for years," Glynda added. "Roman Torchwick and that woman were in the same level of a fully trained Huntsman."

"Also with that firepower, these guys were up for something more than Dust robbery." Lèi said while cleaning his clothes. Although the coat was burned black from the fire, he was glad that his white cloak was still in one piece. "We… can discuss it for later." Lèi added after he noticed that the girl was there.

"Yes. Young lady, please follow me." Glynda walked ahead and grabbed her 'Scroll' – a communication device that was introduced in the last few years. Lèi had one too, but he never gets used to the concept of a 'computer' small enough to fit into pockets. He prefer his laptop if it comes to typing some texts.

"By the way, you guys… I-I mean Sir and Ma'am…" The girl stuttered from excitement. "It was such a honour to fight together with you. I never imagined I can even fight together with real Huntsmen!"

"Real Huntsmen, you say…" Lèi raised an eyebrow while walking beside her; her strangely familiar silver eyes were gleaming. "I thought you are also a Huntress?"

"Err…" the girl went silent, looking for words. Lèi had suspected that she was too young to enter Beacon Academy anyway, but her skill as scythe wielder was fascinating. She somehow reminded Lèi of Qrow.

"Do you have a name?" Lèi asked out of curiosity.

The girl in red cloak looked at him and smiled widely. "I am Ruby. Ruby Rose."

* * *

 **Author Notes:**

This chapter was sitting for a while, waiting for my mood to kick in. Although I'm not supposed to leave you hanging that long, I cannot help it. I have no excuses either, so forgive me.

If you haven't realized by now, the titles of every chapter is the title of a song I heard when I thought about it. I usually decided the title after I finished the chapter, then I played my playlist on random to find anything that 'represents' the story. The first chapter title was a song was from a local band in my country, Letto. The second's already mentioned on the last note. This one however, is something from Final Fantasy VII battle theme, "Those Who Fight" from Nobuo Uematsu. This is the only one which fits the fighting mood. :)


	4. Colors

**Hello. If you wonder where I've been for the last two years, please read my notes at the end of this chapter. Enjoy!**

The sun was bright and shining softly, as it rose slowly and steadily from the horizon, where the dark sky and the blue sea touched each other. The island of Patch is known for its calming scenery, far from the troubles and wars that happened at the Kingdom of Vale. Rays of orange light bathed the island's surface, recolouring the once green forest. Most people said that the best place to enjoy its beauty is to overlook from one of Patch's cliffs.

But Lèi Cyrus was not there to enjoy the sea breeze or the sunrise. He was there to mourn.

"Good morning, Summer." He kneeled in front of the empty grave; his hand touched the carving of rose, engraved on a white gravestone. Below the emblem it was written: _Summer Rose_. The name he always muttered in his prayer, the name he remembered when he was lonely. He never expected her name to be written on a piece of marble, at least not before he could be reunited with her. _Thus Kindly I Scatter_ , the phrase was written below her name. Lèi smiled sadly; _like a rose until the end_ , he thought silently.

"Good morning, Mom." Ruby Rose sat beside him; her hand held a white rose. "I brought your friend, an old friend."

"Old indeed," Lèi chuckled by himself, and then sighed contently. 'Friend' was not an enough word to imagine his relationship with the Huntress. Did he love her, if one would ask the question? Lèi could not answer that even after two decades. If he could dig around dictionaries to find the word that could answer that question, he would say that he did have a 'crush' for Summer. Did she felt the same way, if one might wonder? The veteran Huntsman hoped so, at least when they were still together.

"So, how did you two meet?" Ruby spoke to him after she put the rose on the empty grave; the girl and beloved daughter of his 'crush'. Lèi could imagine how happy Summer was when she got her first child. Strangely enough, if someone can imagine feeling adoration with a mix of jealousy, Lèi felt exactly like that. He knew that he honestly felt the same joy as Summer when she had her bundle of happiness; yet his heart was also wrenched with the fact that it was because of someone else.

Lèi kept his silence up for a moment, yet Ruby let him so. Twenty years being apart to find a close friend already gone was hard and would always is. The red-haired girl closed her eyes and remembered that fateful day. Her little self was sleeping in a red wagon, the blonde hair of her sister gleaming in the dark, red monstrous eyes and sharp fangs, and the silhouette of their uncle and protector. Every little thing happened that day was because of their longing for that beloved person.

"There was an organization called Huntsmen Alliance back in our day." The man uncovered the hood that engulfed his head. His silver hair waved slightly by the soft breeze of morning air. "It was formed by the decision of each council from every kingdom, following the aftermath of the Faunus Revolution War. I was one of the commanders."

"My mother was in your command, right?" Ruby asked eagerly. Her father Taiyang might know her mother the best, but it was always fun to hear the opinions and stories from another perspective. Maybe she will learn another side of her mother as viewed by her fellow Huntsman.

"Well, the whole team STRQ was." Lèi shifted from kneeling position to sitting cross-legged which he found to be more comfortable, then he continued. "Summer was only in her first year when she and her team joined. The Alliance was short in manpower so it would be stupid to turn away the volunteers."

"Was she a good Huntress?" Ruby asked automatically. _Of course she would ask about Summer's knack for hunting Grimms_ , Lèi thought to himself while shaking his head. Summer might seem to fit the peacemaker role, but she always has the mentality 'shoot first and never ask' when dealing with the monsters. She is a perfect role model for mothers who also hunt beasts for a living.

"Oh, she was a prodigy." Lèi grinned widely, his brightest expression so far today. Talking about her in front of her daughter made him feel like an uncle or some sort. "She got great eyes and patience. Give her a sniper rifle and you'll feel as safe as being home."

"Hehe, that's the Mom I knew." Ruby chuckled softly, but not as cheerful as Lèi liked it.

"Did Summer go missing when you're still too young?" Lèi asked even when he thought he knew the answer.

"Yeah, I can barely remember those days."

 _Thought so_ , Lèi sighed as he put his hand on Ruby's head while patting it gently. He was never good with words of comfort, so he always shows it with physical gestures. Her hair felt smooth and had a hint of rose fragrance to it, which reminded him to that day twenty years ago. The warmth of Summer's body when they hugged, the same smoothness he felt on his chin, that cheerful grin even when they part ways; Lèi could think that a part of Summer's spirit was left in Ruby, which was half-true.

"Sorry I was late!"

The sound of hurried steps took away the attention of Summer's visitors. Lèi looked over his shoulder to see a girl in golden hair, while Ruby perked up when she heard her voice and jumped to embrace her in one swift motion. Is she a friend of Ruby, or maybe one of her relatives? Lèi predicted that they were at least around the same age, although the blonde girl was slightly taller.

"Oh Yang, I've been waiting for you!" Ruby said after she let herself go.

"Sorry, sis. The entrance exam took longer than I expected." Yang sighed from seemingly a busy day. "Some entrants accidentally shot each other and caused a riot. I was caught in the middle trying to separate the fight."

Ah, sisters. That would explain the close bond between the two; although Lèi wondered why Summer did not mention that she had two daughters.

Ruby chuckled, "Hah, more like you kicked them in the butt until everyone involved submit in defeat!"

"You bet! The vice principal basically scolded us all, although she let me go first since I passed." Yang laughed to her own story, and then she finally addressed the man in white cloak. "Are you a friend of mom, Mister?"

"Ah, yes I am." Lèi stood up and offered his hand. "Lèi Cyrus. May I have your name, young lady?"

"Yang Xiao Long," she took the hand and shook it firmly. "Just Yang is fine, though."

 _Xiao Long_? That was Taiyang's surname; if Lèi's memory was to be trusted. If both Ruby and Yang were Taiyang's daughter, why did he gave Ruby her mother's surname? Lèi decided that it was a question that must be addressed with the man in question himself. Lèi could have asked the daughters himself, but he refrained to do so since it seemed to be a sensitive topic.

"Entrance exam, huh?" The huntsman tried to spark up a conversation with Ruby's sister – he was curious anyway. "Are you entering Beacon Academy, if I'm not wrong?"

"Hell yeah, and I aced the practical exam!" The girl beamed with excitement, and Lèi would not argue or doubt her statement by looking at her parents' track record. Being a Huntsman is always a prestige in Remnant, and because of that the occupation mostly becomes family traditions. Yang seemed to follow Taiyang's legacy, according to her colour palette that consist of golden yellow and her metal bracers on her arm that gave the impression that she fought with fists.

"That's quite an achievement, Ms. Yang." Lèi replied.

"Heh, you'll see that I'm just getting started!" Yang laughed and flicked her nose with her right thumb. The man in white shook his head in amusement.

"Oh! Dad and the headmaster wanted to talk to you, but I'll take you there after I pay my respect to Mom first, okay?"

Yang along with her little sister kneels down in front of the gravestone; Lèi gave them as much time as they wanted to stay. He was not quite done himself to be honest. The thoughts of the woman gone without any confirmation, whose memory still lingers in the form of comforting cloth that covered him time to time, left him almost hopeless. Only the vibrant memory of that dream, the one that lead him to her beloved daughter, assured him to hope and find the answer while following anything that fate had to offer for Ruby.

Three steaming hot cups of tea were sat down on the square coffee table. The aroma of jasmine filled the living room with a hint for relaxation and calmness. Sounds of crickets and other kinds of bugs pierced through wooden walls but not loud enough that it became noisy. Warm winds flowed through open windows and danced the curtain ever so gently. Yellow rays of sunlight lighted up the middle of the room, where three certain gentlemen seated without speaking a word or even as much as clearing their throats. The silence was awkward and tense; a contrast with the vibe of the room they were in currently.

Ozpin sat in a lounger, leg crossed, with his cane rested at his right side on the armrest, ready to be pulled out whenever a hint of danger was sensed; but the headmaster was as relaxed as a mammal in hibernation. Taiyang was the opposite, his thumbs were fiddling with each other and his right foot was tapping constantly on a thick carpet, making it less annoying. His eyes were unable to meet the man seated on the sofa next to him. The man in white hair was the one in question. His expression was hard to read, although everyone in the room could at least guess one thing that was on his mind.

"To put it simply," Ozpin finally pierced the thick atmosphere and caught the other two men's attention. "Raven left Taiyang here after Yang was born, and then you and Summer were… romantically involved, if I'm not wrong."

"Well, I…" Taiyang struggles for words.

"Ah, just give it to me straight." Lèi asked him calmly; well, as calm as a heartbroken man could get.

"…we did have a relationship going on." Taiyang shrugged in defeat, and he decided to give everything straight right now. "One thing led to another… and then Summer was expecting a baby."

Lèi listened at him and nodded slowly, and also he made sure to not give him any kind of hostility. Taiyang was a good man, and their relationship was relatively well. At the very least, he was partly glad it was a good man he knew than some strangers he did not recognize.

"Me and Glynda respected Summer's private affair and let her choose when she would give you the news." Ozpin picked up his cup of tea and said before he sipped the beverage, "I am sorry."

"Well, I'm happy for you." Lèi sighed and leaned comfortably at the sofa. His hand combed his bleached hair and he smiled with a mix of bitter and relief. Then, he patted Taiyang's tense shoulder, "Cheer up, bro. I'm not angry or anything."

"Thank you, and I'm sorry." The blonde man relaxed slightly. "I know you have a feeling for Summer, but I still…"

"Indeed, I did have a crush on her." _I still do_ , Lèi thought to himself. "But I never asked her out because I don't have the guts to do it. All fair and square, I guess."

The huntsman in white thought that the thick atmosphere was lifted after he said that, or at the very least he made it clear that there are no 'hard feelings'.

"Okay, Ozpin. You can brief us now."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow.

"You cleared my passport, told me that one of the Maiden is wounded, and crossed all the way to Patch in a private VTOL aircraft." Lèi sighed and took his cup of tea. "You must have at least four plans to make our move. Let's hear it."

"Well, certainly." Ozpin put down his empty cup and then stood up. "Taiyang, may I use your television?"

"No problem, you can connect to the Wi-Fi to access it."

Ozpin pulled out his Scroll device and after a full minute or two of typing and tapping, a collection of pictures popped out on the screen. First, it was a medical photograph of Amber, the Fall Maiden, in her incubator. The left half of her beautiful face was scarred with gruesome patterns. After that, the next picture shows several snapshots of numerous robberies in action by members of White Fang and some unrecognized thugs, but all of them include a known figure of Roman Torchwick. The last picture showed Roman talking with a woman in red dress; her face was not facing the camera.

"I met that lady in red." Lèi remarked.

"Glynda confirmed that. She had suspicions that she was at least involved in the attempted assassination of Lady Amber."

"What about you?" Taiyang asked.

"I trust Glynda's judgement completely." Ozpin threw his Scroll on the lounger he previously sat on. "If Lèi and Glynda cannot stop her, I think she is indeed our main problem."

"What's up with the White Fang?" Lèi asked. "Is this supposed to be Faunus related?"

"Roman was seen using numerous mercenaries to steal almost a quarter of Vale's Dust supply." Ozpin took his Scroll again and tapped on it to show a map full of red marks. "These are the locations that involved at least one White Fang member."

"So, lady in red here is possibly the leader…" Taiyang pointed on her picture.

"…and Roman was her go-to-guy, her number one accomplice…" Lèi continued.

"…using mostly White Fang resources and manpower, maybe in return of monetary support for their cause," Ozpin finished the sentence. "It's quite a big problem."

"Okay, now the plans." Lèi leaned forward and clapped his hands. "Firstly, how many Huntsmen do we have?"

"Team STRQ only has me and Qrow now." Taiyang added. "I don't know about other teams, but they are loyal to Vale and Beacon first. At the very least they would defend this kingdom."

"What about the headmasters?"

"Well, we have an agreement regarding the matter." Ozpin answered. "But I do not expect any form kind of help beside information, or this will turn into political business."

"Fair enough," Lèi nodded in agreement. No help is free, and owing favours from a Kingdom will put Vale and Beacon Academy into unneeded troubles.

"I tried to contact our former team members from Huntsmen Alliance." The headmaster switched the slideshow on television to a list of familiar names. "Most of them had gone to work for their kingdom and are willing to help, but they cannot move freely."

"They can function as sleeper agents and informants when needed." Taiyang concluded and rubbed his stubbed chin. The white huntsman nodded in agreement; it will put less risk to observe and trade information than gathering an army.

"Is that Winter from Schnee family?" Lèi pointed at the mage's name. "The last time I heard of her was that she was promoted in a strategic position in Atlas military."

"Ah, yes. It looks like she saves me an explanation." Ozpin smiled a little. "Basically she is our most influential ally, because she is the right hand woman of General Ironwood of Atlas military."

"I expected no less." Lèi relaxed his posture; he did not realize that he was tense all the time. "Did Qrow still after her?" He asked with a knowing smirk.

"Why do you think he was not here?" Taiyang answered with an amused tone. "I bet he was teasing Winter to death while he was in that snow land."

 _Never change, Qrow_. Lèi silently chuckled. "So, now what's our first step?"

"That is something you should decide." Ozpin replied and reached for his inner pocket of his black suit. He produced a sealed envelope, with Beacon Academy insignia on it. "This is a formal invitation for you."

"Formal invitation…?" Lèi grabbed the piece of paper and silently asked the headmaster's permission to open it. Ozpin nodded and picked up his cane, ready to leave. Inside the envelope was a letter, complete with Ozpin's signature at the bottom. Lèi's eyes were wide open when he read the content of the letter, "Wait a minute…"

"Welcome to Beacon, Teacher Lèi Cyrus. I'll brief you tomorrow, 8 in the morning." Ozpin straighten himself and walked through the door. "Don't be late on your first day."

 **Hello again! Thanks for your support throughout my absence. I am surprised that some of you still Favorited "Thunder of Remnant" up until a few months ago, even though my last update was in 2016. You are awesome.**

 **I go with Valmariel these days, because my old username is my real name, although a generic one. Oops.**

 **Now the answer you were looking for: where was I?**

 **Currently, I'm pursuing Master degree in Computer Science. I got it through full scholarships, which is nice and all. The problem is, apparently the bureaucracy in the university is crap, and because of that I cannot do anything but wait because of binding contracts. I cannot even have a proper full-time job, which means I cannot provide for my family. My father's retired, and my mother's almost certainly retired after we found tumors in her womb. My brother still in high school, so it is up to me to find jobs or we will have no food.**

 **I was so stressed out, and I was thinking that I could not write anymore.**

 **However, things started to pick up. I got part time job as tutor. My mother went through surgery and she was recovering quickly. It's not much, but I think we'll survive.**

 **Lastly, thank YOU for all of your support. Even a click on Favorite/Follow button motivates me to write more, and I will work hard to bring this story to the end.**

 **Oh, the title of this chapter is a music by FLOW; Colors. They're my favorite Japanese band, and I guess some of you will scream "JIBUN WO" at the top of their lungs when they play this on Spotify.**

 **Don't hesitate to leave a review, and thank you so much!**


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